Disrespected
by Dixie Dewdrop
Summary: For thirteen year old Tony, what exactly is disrespect?  This story is part of my Fate series.
1. Set Up

Set Up

The doorbell rang twice, insistently, before Maria could answer the summons. When she got the front door open it was to see a stocky man on the younger side of middle age with a hand around the arm of an adolescent with the same build. Neither looked pleasant.

"Si, may I help you?" Maria asked politely, hoping the visitors would leave soon because she knew it was almost time to pull a batch of cookies from the oven.

Glancing at the front yard she noticed Tony's soccer ball and his skates discarded and slung over the grass. She sighed heavily, wondering how many times she had to tell him to keep all toys and sports equipment in the fenced backyard before he automatically did so.

Growing impatient from the silence of the visitors, she prodded, "Por favor, please, what can I do for you?"

The man tightened his jaw muscles before he responded, and Maria thought of a bulldog. He had that kind of look.

"My name's Judd Sweeney and we moved to the area a few weeks ago." He gestured towards the street behind them. "We live on Cedar," he added.

The boy with him shuffled a bit and added, "Our house is that one with the chain link fence and the Rottweiler."

Maria nodded in recognition. She knew the property, and that the dog went crazy barking if anyone strolled anywhere near the property.

Judd Sweeney indicated the boy. "This is Gabriel, my son."

She nodded, and then spoke a bit impatiently, "Mr. Sweeney, it is good to meet you. I do need to get back to my cooking, though. What is it that I can do for you?"

He tried to laugh jovially, but it came out forced. "Right, yes, well I just wanted to bring to your attention a problem we've encountered with..."

He turned to his son, clearly seeking input from him.

The boy looked down at the stoop and muttered, "Tony, Dad, his name is Tony."

Maria became more alert and receptive, and she loosened her grip on the doorknob. "What about Antonio?"

The man pushed the boy a bit in front of him. "Look here, I am just going to be straight with you. Earlier today I heard a commotion down the block from my house. Today's my day off, and I was in the yard just messing around after I mowed. Anyway, I saw my Gabriel coming down the street cupping his nose, and I saw he was bleeding. When I got to him he told me this Tony had gone and punched him."

Maria tensed but stayed silent. She took an appraising look at Gabriel, who was decidedly bigger than Tony.

"I didn't do anything to him, either," Gabriel defended himself. It came out as a whine. "He just came out of nowhere and attacked me."

The father continued. "I called the kid to me and he came, all right. When I told him he had no right to do my kid like that he started mouthing off to me. He was so rude and disrespectful that I told him he had better not come around our street again if he didn't have legitimate business there."

Rocking a bit on his heels he lifted on his son's chin and pointed to Gabriel's injured nose. "Let the lady see your face."

Maria took a good look. The boy's nose was swollen, no doubt about it. She addressed the man. "How do you know Tony?"

The boy spoke and answered her instead. "We moved here right at the end of school, so we were on the bus together."

She accepted the identification, then turned her attention to the man before asking, "He was disrespectful?"

Eager to incriminate Tony, Mr. Sweeney nodded, "Yes, he was. I'm telling you, if my boy talked to an adult the way yours did to me, I would..."

Maria cut him off, answering firmly, "I will deal with it now, Mr. Sweeney. Do not worry any more."

With that, she began slowly pulling the front door closed, clearly finished with the exchange.

A bit disappointed that he could not prolong the conversation, the unhappy man turned his son loose and pointed him down the walkway. "All right then, this had better take care of the problem."

Maria didn't answer, but watched them until they left the yard and climbed into their car. Then she shut the door, and smelling the air hurried to the kitchen. The cookies had suffered with her neglect. It was too late. The batch she had baked was cooked to the point that she would have a hard time getting the baking sheet clean.

Scraping the remains into the disposal she muttered in annoyance as she reviewed the cause of the calamity.

Tony knew better than to disrespect an adult. That was an ironclad rule in their household, and one that neither she nor his father tolerated having the child break. It had been drummed into him from toddlerhood. The fact that he had acted and spoken disrespectfully made her angry, but that his behaviour was so reprehensible that the adult physically came to the house to report it, fuelled her anger with Tony to a higher level.

That reminded her that she had given him strict instructions to return by noon for lunch. He still had not made an appearance, and that compounded her irritation over his disrespect and the toys scattered in the yard.

Perhaps he had the ill conceived idea that just having celebrated his thirteenth birthday made him immune to the rules.

She would make sure he no longer had a doubt.

The later he was, the more annoyed she became with him.


	2. Accusations

Accusations

An hour later he came barrelling through the back door, rattling off his tardy excuse as he raced to her. "Abuela, Abuela, I am so sorry but we were at the park and got caught up in the football game." He grinned his beautiful smile, which normally gave him an advantage in thwarting her aggravation, but she resisted his charms.

"What time does that clock say, Antonio?" Her voice snapped as she pointed to the clock in the niche where they kept the calendar and some stationery supplies.

He looked up at it and cringed, but answered her honestly. "One, Abuela, but..."

She interrupted him irritably and pointed at his place. "Sit down now and eat your lunch. Do not say a word at all. Sientese y no hablan. I am not pleased with your morning's activities."

Tony looked worried but did as instructed, and quietly began eating his lunch as ordered. Maria worked on another batch of cookies, mentally making a list of what else she intended to accomplish that afternoon.

When Tony finished he cleaned up without prodding, then went to stand by her as she shoved the replacement cookies into the oven.

He put his arms around her and hugged.

"Thank you, Abuela, it was good. May I be excused and go back outside now?"

He flashed her his beautiful smile once again.

Maria couldn't help but smile back as she regarded her baby. Tony was a beautiful child, with shimmery green eyes, long eyelashes, and brown hair streaked liberally with blond from their recent Mexican visit. He was lean, and small for his age, all boy, and Maria's own.

She regarded him and sighed, then reached out a hand and grasped his shoulder. "You are excused, yes, but not to play, Nieto."

Tony began to plead with an immediate protest, "Abuela, I am sorry! Lo siento. I will not come back late again, I promise. We're all meeting back at the park and Ryan has a watch. I promise I will check it over and over for the time."

"No, because you are so much late, and because you have disobeyed me again and left equipment in the yard, you will spend the rest of the afternoon in your room. Perhaps that will give you time to make plans as to how you can do a better job of obeying in the future." That said, she turned back to the stove.

"No, Abuela, please don't say that! I won't be late again, and I picked up my skates and the soccer ball and put them in the backyard before I came in to lunch. Dame otra oportunidad, give me another chance," Tony begged, turning to gesture in the direction of the back yard. "Don't..."

Maria interrupted, in the tone he knew from the family's years of being together, meant business, "One..."

"Don't count, Abuela, please listen..." he begged.

"Two..." she responded firmly.

Tony threw himself against the counter. Crossing his arms over his chest, he puffed his lip out in a pout, but didn't speak. As bad as the day looked now, he knew from experience that if she got to three he would be in for a far worse day, and more than likely, a rough night.

Taking him by the arm, she steered him towards the stairs leading to the upper floor and to his bedroom and clarified her decision. "The rest of the afternoon in your room, Bambino, comes because you stayed late and didn't put your toys where they go. Because I had a visit from Mr. Sweeney and his son, Gabriel, and was told you were very disrespectful to a grown up, you will not go back to play until the weekend. Comprendes?"

Tony blew up then, throwing caution to the wind to voice his fury. "No, no, no! This is not fair, Abuela, it's just Monday now! I was not really disrespectful, and you don't even care about what that man said to me! It is wrong to dump all of this punishment on me when you are being really mean about something I don't deserve. You are not fair!"

He was so upset that his eyes filled with tears. He blinked quickly to keep them from spilling.

Maria didn't waver, but delivered a sharp smack to his bottom instead. "Are you sure you are ready for the count of three?"

Tony sucked in a breath and threw his head back angrily. Yes, he wanted to argue his sentence at the top of his voice. He had afternoon plans, and there were just a few days left before school began again. He did not want to be in his room, but worse, he didn't want to be confined to the house. Years of experience, though, had him completely certain of the penalty if he continued to argue with his abuela.

She watched his mental debate, and ordered warningly, "Make sure that you lower your voice when you speak again, Young Man."

Tony chose not to respond verbally. He stood a couple of seconds as he made his decision.

Finally, he licked his lips and worked his way up the stairs. His anger at Abuela had not abated, and he flung himself into his desk chair when he got to his room. He felt persecuted and unfairly treated, but mostly hurt that Maria had refused to even listen to him.

When he calmed a bit he acknowledged that he probably deserved banishment to his room because he had come in late, and had left his sports equipment scattered over the front lawn. However, Mr. Sweeney and Gabriel proved a far different matter.

Tony shifted in his chair and propped his elbows on his desk. He had a great view of the outdoors through his window. The gorgeous weather lent itself to hours of outdoor fun. Now, thanks to Abuela getting all mad for no real reason, he would not just miss today's entertainment, but the rest of the week's, as well. He could not stop a slow trickle of tears, but wiped angrily at them.

Maria watched Tony until he entered his room, then she headed back to the kitchen. Checking the cookies to see if they had turned golden, she paused a moment and thought about her confrontation with the boy. She had been short tempered and annoyed, and she knew it. Her impatience had been obvious. However, he had to learn responsibility and accept consequences.

An hour later she entered his room quietly to set down a pile of laundry. "Put this away, Nieto," she smiled.

He got up to follow her instructions and looked at her appealingly, his bottom lip puffed into his trademark pout.

Leaning down to kiss him before she left the room, she whispered, "Pretty soon I will bring you some cookies and some milk. I know your tummy probably is hungry again."

She had just navigated the last step to the bottom floor when the doorbell rang again. Dylan grinned at her when she opened the door and she smiled back. A cute middle schooler, he and Tony had been best friends since pre- school.

He looked hopeful. "Please tell Tony Ryan's mom just got back from shopping, so it's time for us to head for the park. I will meet him there."

"No," Maria replied, and Dylan looked at her quizzically. "Antonio does not get to play for the rest of the week because he misbehaved."

Dylan studied her with horror, his mouth forming a round O. He and Tony had plans for the next few days, and now they would just fall to the wayside. "For all week?" he finally clarified, sputtering on the words.

"Correct," Maria answered, "so you go ahead to the park and play with Ryan by yourself."

Dylan left, but glanced towards the stairs as he did so, almost willing Tony to appear and tell him it was all a misunderstanding.

Tony heard the exchange and kicked irritably at the chair of his desk. He got up and paced the room, his anger increasing again as he mentally reviewed his punishment. School began in less than a month, and his free days had already dwindled. Now what little time left had been commandeered as punishment.


	3. Injustice

Injustice

The doorbell rang again, and Tony frowned. Ryan probably hadn't seen Dylan to find out Tony could not join the afternoon's park visit.

Maria wiped her hands on her apron and opened the door yet again to reveal Ian Sandler, a neighbour from down the block and around the corner. Accompanied by his daughter, Daisy, he waited patiently for Maria to acknowledge them.

Smiling broadly, she immediately reached out a hand to stroke Daisy's hair and pull her to her in a hug. "Ian and Daisy, how wonderful that you visit! Please come in and sit. I have fresh cookies."

Daisy nodded eagerly and Maria stepped back for the two to enter. Daisy, a higher functioning Downs Syndrome child, was a year older than Tony, though she appeared far younger.

Daisy grabbed Maria's hand and excitedly questioned, "Where is Tony? Daisy wants to see him."

Maria did not immediately answer the child. She gestured Ian to the living room and said, "Please, make yourself comfortable. Would you like coffee?"

Ian nodded and made his way to the living room while Maria and Daisy headed to the sunny kitchen.

"Daisy, thank goodness you have come to see me today. I made all these cookies- too many for us to eat by ourselves, solo. Please take this tray with cookies to the living room, and I will come with coffee and some juice for you."

Daisy carefully gripped the cookie tray and Maria watched her with a smile. She was such a sweet child, and over the course of the years, had been inside the house on visits several times. All of them had a special fondness for her.

Maria joined them in the living room with the beverages. Ian sat on the overstuffed couch and Daisy seated herself on the floor in front of the coffee table.

Daisy asked shyly, "Can Daisy eat the cookie now?"

Maria laughed and went over to hand her the juice. "Indeed, yes, please eat many cookies."

Once she sat back down with a cookie in each hand, Ian looked up, "Tony isn't here?"

Maria shook her head and pointed towards the upstairs. "No, Antonio is upstairs in his room right now."

"Ok," Ian explained, "I really wanted to talk to him, though, if you do not mind."

"Then I shall call him down," Maria responded at once, heading towards the stairs.

"Daisy wants to get Tony," Daisy announced, jumping up and racing to the stairs herself. "By myself, Daisy will get him to come here."

Both adults nodded agreeably and were rewarded a couple of minutes later as they heard loud laughter and running on the landing and down the stairs. The children raced into the living room and Tony clapped his hands, "You are phenomenal, Daisy Baby, much, much faster than I!"

Daisy giggled with delight, then held out the cookie tray for Tony to take one. "Daisy didn't make these, Tony, your grandmamma did. But Daisy wants you to eat one."

"Yummy, they are delicious." He popped one into his mouth and looked quizzically at Maria. "Did you send for me to come, Abuela?" A punishment in his room usually meant he stayed in his room the entirety of the penalty time.

"I did, yes, Bambino. Go get yourself something to drink and then sit down."

He did, and came back with a glass of juice. He pounced onto the sofa and Daisy flopped down right beside him. Tony looked over at her and threw his arm around the little girl's shoulder, glancing sideways at her. "Thanks for coming to visit me today, Honey. I was upstairs just thinking I wished you would come to the house."

Daisy smiled broadly and hugged him back. She adored Tony, and he was especially gentle and compassionate towards her.

Maria watched the exchange with pride. Tony's empathy knew no bounds, and he practically oozed charm. He had an innocent way of making others feel special, and especially showed his kindness to those less fortunate. A natural leader, the other kids tended to emulate Tony. So when he included Daisy, so did they, and Daisy had grown up as a beloved member of the neighbourhood.

Daisy's father watched their exchange, as well. He set down his coffee cup on a coaster and addressed the boy seriously. "Tony, Daisy told me what happened to her today, and I came here personally to say thank you, Son. You are really a good boy, and I appreciate you."

Tony ducked his head, "No problem, Mr. Sandler, and you do not have to thank me at all."

Confused, Maria spoke, "Thank Antonio why, Ian? What did he do?"

Daisy responded, frowning. "He protected Daisy from the rude boy. The rude boy was a bad boy to Daisy."

"Yes," Ian affirmed, looking at Maria, "Daisy told me she was really afraid until she saw Tony, then she knew Tony would defend her."

"Explain to me, please," Maria asked, "tell me from the beginning. I know nothing of this rude boy and Daisy."

"Apparently," Ian began, taking another swallow of coffee, "my Daisy was playing hopscotch on the sidewalk a little down from our house."

Daisy interjected shyly, "Daisy gets mixed up when Daisy has to put one foot down."

"I do, too, Daisy Baby," Tony lied smoothly, "so you are not the only one."

Daisy flashed him a beautiful smile.

He continued, "When I get off restriction, I will help you practice jumping on just one foot."

Her eyes grew wide and she clapped her hands, "Tony will help Daisy play the hopscotch like the other kids."

The adults glanced at Daisy and Ian continued. "Daisy likes to play hopscotch." He took another swallow. "Anyway, that boy who just moved in down the block approached my little girl and started harassing her. What's his name, that boy?"

He looked to Tony for an answer.

Tony picked up a cookie, "Gabriel, Mr. Sandler, his name is Gabriel Sweeney."

"Right, so for no reason he started picking on my little girl. She wasn't doing a thing to him, but he decided to go bully her."

Daisy frowned and looked at Maria. "He said get out of his way or he would hit Daisy with his skateboard. Then he said Daisy was stupid and Daisy needed to be at the mental institution."

Maria sucked in a breath, horrified, "This is not true, Daisy, that boy is a mean boy. Don't pay attention to him."

"It gets worse," Ian continued. "Daisy obviously didn't move fast enough for his liking, so he shoved her into the road. She skinned her knee and scraped her arm."

Daisy pointed to her knee for Maria to see. "Daisy cried 'cause he hurt Daisy and made Daisy bleed."

Maria's eyes widened in shock, and Daisy added, "Daisy may not play in the road, but the rude boy pushed Daisy in the road where Daisy's not supposed to go."


	4. Respect

Respect

Ian turned to Tony, "Why don't you tell your grandmamma the next part, Tony?"

Tony smiled shyly, "It's nothing, really, except I just told him to leave her alone."

"No," Ian contradicted, "it most certainly was a big deal." He shifted in his seat and pointed to Tony. "So Tony happened to be coming down the street with a couple of his friends and he saw Gabriel knock down Daisy, then pick up his skateboard like he was going to hit her with it."

"That made Daisy really scared," Daisy contributed to the narration, then reached for another cookie.

"Tony evidently tackled him from behind and knocked him away from Daisy, then pinned him to the ground. Daisy got up but the kid started screaming for his father, who heard him and charged over. He started yelling and screaming at Tony to get off, then grabbed Tony by the shoulders."

"Tony said to the rude boy's dad he would beat Gabriel into the pavement if the rude boy hurt Daisy again," Daisy smiled at her hero and he smiled back, nodding his agreement.

"Then the dad told Tony he would stomp him if Tony hurt his boy. Tony promised him that Gabriel had better watch his back, because if Daisy ever told him that the kid had bothered her in any way he would make him regret it. Tony finally let the boy up, and the boy and his father yelled out insults their whole way back home." Ian turned to Tony. "Thank you, Son, for taking up for Daisy. I don't know what her mother and I would do if something happened to our daughter."

"Tony made bad boy's nose bleed," Daisy observed.

"Yes, yes I saw that," Maria corroborated. She turned to Ian. "The boy and his father came here after that and Senor Sweeney complained about Antonio's disrespect." She glanced at Tony, who met her gaze. Now, she could better understand Sweeney's motive.

"What a joke," Ian elaborated. "Disrespect and physical abuse are what his kid did to my helpless little girl."

They were all silent for a few seconds thinking that over and then Ian directed his attention to Tony once more. "Let me tell you again how appreciative I am to you. Bullies like to target those who can't fight back, weaker ones, and there is no telling what else that delinquent would have done to Daisy if you hadn't stopped him. Luckily you got to her before he'd done more than push her in the road and make her skin her knee."

Tony answered without wavering, "I meant what I said, Sir, that if he touches her again he will answer to me. We have lived here all our lives, and this is our neighbourhood. He just got here, and instead of making friends, he is making enemies. Daisy Baby is going to be safe, and not afraid. I'll see to that."

Ian stood up and motioned for Daisy to stand, too. "We need to go now. We promised Daisy's mom that we would start dinner for her tonight."

Maria and Tony rose as well. Mr. Sandler held out his hand to Tony and then shook the boy's hand before pulling him against him for a hug. "Tony, thank you for making Daisy's road a little easier to navigate today. Her mother and I appreciate every kindness given our girl, but none as much as one given from such an incredible young man. Your father and grandmother must just be so proud of you!"

Tony bit the inside of his lip and didn't answer, afraid for a second that he would get emotional and cry. He walked with the father and daughter to the front stoop.

He and Maria told them good bye, and watched as they crossed the street to head for their own home.

Tony turned to Maria then and flashed a winning grin. "Could I take a couple of cookies with me to my room, Abuela mia? Supper is a long way away."

Maria grabbed him to her and hugged him fiercely. Tony, not sure what he had said to warrant the strong emotive reaction, hugged her back.

Finally, she pushed him away from her and tilted his chin so that he met her eye contact. She kissed his forehead gently. "Bambino, lo siento, and I am muy- much sorry. I did not understand that you were protecting little Daisy."

Tony grinned, "It's ok, Abuela, you didn't realize."

"True, that is so. I did not listen to you, though. I did not even give you a chance to explain to me the back story and how you were disrespectful or why before I punished you."

"Abuela," Tony answered honestly, "I was disrespectful to Mr. Sweeney. I raised my voice and talked back to him. He made me mad 'cause he didn't tell Gabriel to leave Daisy alone. He was just yelling and screaming that I hurt Gabriel, but he didn't say a word about Gabriel hurting Daisy first. I know better than to backtalk, and I also know better than to lie, so that is why I am telling you the truth."

She brushed back his bangs, "When did you grow up so much, Bambino? Cuando te hiciste tan sabio? When did you become so wise?"

"Yo no llegar a ser sabio. I don't think I did become wise, Abuela," he answered honestly.

"Come to me," Maria motioned, then moved to the rocker and sat down. Tony did not hesitate, but climbed into her lap, not embarrassed at all to cuddle despite his recent promotion to thirteen and the teen years.

When he settled she kissed him. "So I am telling you I am very sorry- lo siento, Antonio. I should have listened to my baby before I put you on restriction. Yo era injusto. I feel very bad, because I was unfair to you and I made a big mistake. No, you are ok to go play for the rest of the week with your friends. Dylan will be happy to have you join him tomorrow."

Tony reminded her, "You were not wrong, Abuela, because I was disrespectful."

"No!" Maria spoke emphatically. "The disrespect you showed today was just a small and tiny bad. The giant wrong was that boy and his father hurting Daisy. They are not the same equal. Do you understand?"

He reached up and rubbed her hair. "I do, yes, I understand the difference. Comprendo."

"Good," Maria tightened her arms around him and rocked steadily. Tony, who had spent hours and hours rocked in his Abuela's lap since babyhood, settled quietly against her.

When Jethro came through the door several minutes later and took in the scene, he hurriedly questioned, "Is something wrong? Is everything ok here? Are either of you hurt?"

Tony sat up and grinned at his dad. "All is well, my favourite daddy. We are just enjoying thinking about people who get disrespected!"

He and Maria laughed, and she leaned down and kissed him again.


End file.
